Betty Smith Novelist July 22
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Betty Smith, Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In fact, Smith had an interest in writing about Brooklyn apart from the book. She wrote commentary in the New York Times Magazine which included an essay “Why Brooklyn is that Way.” She became Brooklyn’s unofficial advocate, explaining that Brooklyn was like a small town that New Yorkers were trying to reject.
Indeed, the strong sense of place in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn suggests that she knew the charms and lasting benefits that came with living in a small neighborhood community. One could even say that the title reveals the importance Smith attaches to place.
After all, the novel is the story of Francie Nolan; it might have been titled after the heroine. It seems Smith would rather have her first priority be to represent time and place, and her second priority to create a character out of that setting.
Read entire extract at Sparknotes.
More about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
